RUNNING THE GAMUT

Unlike its four-wheel distant cousins
and to a certain point electric motorcycles, the e-bike world offers a lot of
competition. It might be a little daunting and overwhelming walking into an
expo showing off 140 different types
of e-bikes, but the revelation here is
that the industry offers a wide range of
bikes for every type of consumer.

I started off with one of the most
reputed e-bike-makers—Bulls. Adam
Anderson, who is in charge of sales for
the U.S. and Canada, greeted me in a
friendly way and explained what Bulls
does unlike any other company.

Bulls makes some of the best high-end e-bikes available on the market.
Geared for the more affluent market,
Bulls e-bikes deliver quality and performance. I set out to test ride the
E-Stream Evo FS 3 27. 5+, which sports

37-volt, 17.5-amp-hour, 650-watt-hourbattery pack. Needless to say, I cameback with a permanent EV grin itchedon my face. The obstacle course waseasily met with power, stability and anoverall stellar feel. The Bulls climbed ontop of the simulated bumps while send-ing enough feedback that didn’t over-whelm me. I was particularly impressedwith its smooth torque delivery thatnever felt abrupt, nor took me by sur-prise. This is a well-refined and -devel-oped bike offered at $4699.

The next e-bike I then test rode was
Bulls’ excellent Lacuba Evo E8, which
impressed me further as a high-end
street bike and perfect for city commuters. The e-bike was buttery smooth. It
picked up enough speed effortlessly,
making it a great contender for longer
rides to work, or leisure. Offered at
$3999, Bulls addresses a more discriminating clientele that wants top-notch
quality and performance.

THE SEAMLESSSMARTMOTION

Next up was the SmartMotion booth
where I rode the Catalyst e20, which
sports a Samsung 36-volt 14.5-amp-
hour with a 250- to 350-watt motor. I

was highly impressed with how ergo-nomic the bicycle was. It has an inte-grated controller and LCD neatly sunkinto the top part of the frame insteadof on the handlebar. While some bicy-cles require a little time getting usedto them, the e20 felt comfortable fromthe get-go. It eagerly accelerated ina straight line, matching the intensityof my pedaling effort without beingintrusive. It also handled the obsta-cle course with bravado and felt verymaneuverable at all times. This is afun bike you can take anywhere, whichstarts off at $2599 and reaches $3199for the upper end.

THE GOCYCLEHAS LANDED

And then there is Gocycle. It’s hard
to explain what it feels like to see a
Gocycle for the first time. Is it a bicycle, a foldable bike, a Jetsons futuristic
rendering? So, where are the cables?
Where is the speedometer on the handlebar, or the Shimano derailleur we
are so accustomed to? You won’t see
any of that here. The Gocycle was engineered so well, it looks as seamless as
its performance.

“It might be a little daunting and overwhelming walking into an expo showing off 140 different types of e-bikes, but the revelationhere is that the industry offers a wide range ofbikes for every type of consumer.”ay

{ EXPO }

Only street-legal bikes by approved vendors are
allowed in the Expo. All manner of others show up
with really funky bikes, and most are turned away.